Page 88 of Forget Me Not

She was horrified to hear her next breath shudder through her. The tears she felt beneath the surface were nearer to falling than she realized.

“Julia?”

She attempted to wave off his concern but doubted he was so easily put off. Her eyes darted to Aldric, who was hidden behind a newspaper she doubted he was actually reading, then over to Digby, whose attention was utterly engrossed by a book. Good gentlemen that they were, they were attempting to offer some degree of privacy while she struggled with her emotions.

“What can I do?” Lucas asked. “Please, there must be something.”

“I am sorry I didn’t bid Their Graces farewell.” It was an explanation for her heavy mind that she could admit to. “I hadn’t intended to be rude or to embarrass you.”

“Oh, sweetheart, you didn’t embarrass me,” he insisted. “I know you haven’t attended balls and house parties and such. I only thought it would help for you to know what was expected for the next time.”

She nodded. He believed the reason she’d given for her emotional state. That ought to allow her a bit of space in which to find her footing again.

“I have formulated a solution to the difficulty of our departure.” Lucas addressed the comment to the gentlemen across the carriage. “If we set sail from Plymouth instead of Suffolk, we would be starting our travels on the correct side of the country.”

Aldric nodded slowly. “Father could likely be persuaded to have the yacht moored in Plymouth. But I have no connections there and know little of the place.”

“I thought through that as well,” Lucas said. “A pre-journey trip to Plymouth would be sufficient to identify our choice of inns and merchants. A reliable stable could also be located.” Excitement filled his tone. “Your captain will know better than any of us how to fill his crew. If we find all else we need in Plymouth, he can arrive a little ahead of us to prepare to sail.”

“Wise,” Aldric said. “I’m not certain how to fit this scouting mission into our timeline. We’ve had our time at Brier Hill. Digby will want us to visit his pile of rocks.”

“That pile of rocks is quite a fine house.” The King issued his complaint with all the regal disapproval of a monarch not receiving the deference he was owed. “But if you don’t care for it, General, you can forgo the usual visit and hie yourself to Plymouth instead.”

Aldric shook his head. “I need time to visit home and explain to my father the reason we’d like his ship moved.”

“And we don’t dare send Henri to Plymouth without supervision,” Lucas said. “If he gets that close to France, he might simply swim the Channel out of sheer homesickness.”

They exchanged smiles of amusement. Julia might have joined in if not for the growing ache in her heart.We’ve had our time at Brier Hill.Were they all leaving so soon?

“I’ll go to Plymouth in the next little while,” Lucas said. “If it cannot accommodate what we need, I’ll check a few of the other port towns. We’ll find a workable place from which to set sail.”

“Perhaps we’ll finally resume our regular journeys,” Aldric said. “Henri could bring us along on his next visit to his family in France. Kes mentioned the two of you would like to return to the Continent to jaunt about the Nordic countries.”

“There is a lot of the world to see.” Lucas grew immediately more animated. “Beginning again with Portugal.”

“With Plymouth,” Aldric countered.

Lucas tossed out one of his faux-arrogant smiles. “How fortunate for Plymouth.”

“You’re going to Plymouth as well?” Julia couldn’t hold back the question.

She had been sitting beside him as that journey had formulated, yet he’d not gone to the trouble of even looking at her while making these plans. She might have gone with him to Plymouth. If he’d asked. If he’d wanted her to.

“It seems I am,” he said. No invitation. No indication he wished to include her inanyaspect of the plan.

She met his eyes. “And when were you going to tell me that you are traveling to Portugal?”

That seemed to catch him unawares. “That journey has been planned for years.”

“But when were you intending to tellme?”

That he looked confused did not set her mind at ease. “I do not need permission to take a journey, Julia.”

Digby coughed out the word, “Retreat.”

Lucas only looked at his friend for an instant before returning his gaze to Julia, still appearing as confused as before.

“I didn’t say you needed my permission,” Julia said. “I would never even hint at such a thing.”

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